The Reward...

Canning tomatoes is no big deal. Canning 56 bottles of tomatoes in one sitting is kind of a big deal. It's also a rewarding and satisfying and FUN deal!
Last year and the year before, my friend the "tomato guru," purchased our tomato bounty at a farmers market in a suburb of the big city. Last year...when we were insane and bottled 96 quarts of tomatoes...she loaded box after box of tomatoes into her station wagon and headed to my house for Palooza. I mean there were seriously like 9 boxes of tomatoes. Once she arrived it took quite some time to wash all those tomatoes before we could start to process them. This year the tomatoes were already residing in my basement. We decided it was much more efficient to have them at my place ahead of time so Hubs could get up early and start washing them! (Thanks Hubs!)
You know what else was really great?! He washed them all in our awesome outdoor sink. Have I mentioned before how much I love that outdoor kitchen? (In case you missed it, check back a post or two!)
Anyway...the pre-washed maters totally cut down on our processing time and we were ready to roll when the "help" showed up! It takes a few more minutes to get organized and figure out the production line. We basically use the canned tomato recipe in that old canning bible, "The Ball Blue Book of Canning". Blanched tomatoes, peeled, cored and cut up. 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and a teaspoon of Kosher salt per quart. Nothing fancy...but, it's amazing what magic occurs in the glass jars when they are all finished!
Yeah...there are always complaints about burned and blistered fingers, cramped hands and hungry belly's. But...once we are moving we keep moving! Seriously...it's not that brutal and we did get a chips and salsa break.
This year my daughter, her hubs and their sprout couldn't make it. For some reason they planned to leave on their vacation the day before Palooza. Go figure...So, our workforce was down a couple. The upside...it was slightly easier tending one 2 year old as opposed to two 2 year olds. It's amazing how enthralling an episode of "Dora the Explorer" is...
And so...we began.

Bottle after bottle after bottle...

You really get into the "zone"...

Little bitty tomatoes for a little bitty sprout to snack on...She's a dolly...Oh...and that highchair she is hanging out in...it was mine when I was a baby! That means it's totally vintage! Hubs refinished it for our sprouts back in the day and now the next generation of sprouts occupy it!

Just one of several buckets of shiny and gently scrubbed tomatoes!

The tomato soldiers all lined up in formation as they keep marching out of the canner!

I foresee a lot of yummy dinners in our future! Worth every minute of the picking, hauling, washing, preparing and canning! Can't wait until next year! ;)...kidding...I can wait!